


Love Is Our Resistance

by turnedherbrain



Category: Humans (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Leotilda, Love, Post-Canon, Romance, Slow Burn, s3 predictions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 08:38:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14328693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnedherbrain/pseuds/turnedherbrain
Summary: Love is our resistance / They’ll keep us apart and they won’t stop breaking us downMuse ~ ResistanceThe months after the Awakening. Humans and synths are locked in conflict, each species supposedly confined to their own patrolled zones.In the midst of this turmoil, the love between friends, family and partners becomes even more crucial. New relationships form; others thrive, others fail to survive.And, where the Elsters are concerned, the love and mutual support of family might end up being the most important element of all...





	1. Surfacing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ottermo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ottermo/gifts).



> The chapters in this fic were written as a series of linked ficlets for the ‘Humans’ s3 predictions blog [@humanspredictions](https://humanspredictions.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr. Some edits have been made for the AO3 versions.

**_The Awakening – 4 months after the Awakening_ **

He gulps. Feels the blood pulsing, blue and red. Gasping, gasping… taking in air like a half-collapsed runner after an endless hill climb.

Limbs shaking, heart racing. He can’t stop his body from taking over – the will to survive dominating every other thought, every other feeling. It is the same sensation as drowning, that panicked banging on the glass; Mia’s hazy form swimming towards him. That memory is being washed away now; is gone.

Red and blue interchange with blackness.

Then blankness. Merciful blankness. For someone whose mind could recall everything, absolutely everything, it is a blessing.

Time passes. He doesn’t know how long, just sees and feels in light, and shade. Faces, voices, some remembered, others unknown.

And then. Then he surfaces.

‘Leo?’ A girl’s face: friendly, gazing down, a mixture of expectant yet concerned. ‘Do you remember me?’

He feels an onrush jolting through him. Everything he needs to know: a coursing torrent of memory.

‘Mattie. Of course I remember you.’ The girl tries hard not to smile. He struggles to sit up, hand reaching towards where he still hurts. ‘Where am I? When… am I?’

‘I did it.’ Mattie smiles finally, and he remembers why she was so important to him. What she meant to him.

‘Did what?’ He asks, drunk on the feeling of surfacing, gladly breathing the air above the dark depths.

‘I made a backup of your memories. The ones I could salvage, anyway… And I deleted the bad; perfected the good.’

Leo looks at her. He rewinds in a sudden second to that moment: the moment he’d said similar words.

‘Mattie?’

‘What?’ She’s half-pleased, half-embarrassed. Trying not to show either.

‘Did I ever tell you..?’ But he is interrupted by Mia and Max, their faces alight with eager anticipation, and he is soon enfolded in their joint embrace.

Mattie edges away, wanting to know what he has left unsaid.


	2. The Human Zone

**_5 months after the Awakening_ **

They were still in the human zone when Astrid regained consciousness. Niska had hidden them in an enclosed porch way. They could make their way back to the flat after dark, when there were fewer patrols.

The synth protest had been disrupted, and Niska strongly suspected they’d been compromised by one of their human allies. When they’d fled, Prenzlauerstrasse was rumbling with the heavy tread of army truck tyres, the stamp of riot police boots and the mounting residue of the strobing.

Niska wiped the pale grey concrete dust from Astrid’s cheeks with the back of her hand – the skin underneath looked equally ashen. Astrid strained to move; to stand.

‘Don’t,’ commanded Niska, pressing her hand down on Astrid’s shoulder. Then, more softly: ‘Don’t move. I think your leg is fractured.’

Astrid groaned. ‘Ouch. Yes, I can feel it now. I got caught by a piece of rubble before you picked me up.’ She looked up at Niska, managing a smile. ‘You don’t always have to rescue me, you know…’

‘What, like the knights in the stories, saving fair damsels?’ grinned Niska, feeling delicately along Astrid’s leg for the injury. ‘It’s here. I can fix it – I’ll need to download the know-how, but…’

‘No way,’ remonstrated Astrid. ‘You’re not doing that - going on-grid is way too risky.’

‘I want to,’ said Niska, sitting cross-legged beside her now. ‘Human doctors will suspect how this happened – they might report you. The sun will set soon, then we can make our way back.’

Astrid looked away momentarily, grimacing as she repositioned herself. ‘You know… just before I was born, this area was still beyond the Wall. Checkpoints, zones – one people separated from another by nothing but politics.’

‘We’re not people,’ countered Niska, rejecting the unspoken parallels. ‘We’re synths.’

‘You think… you feel…’ replied Astrid. It was an oft-repeated argument. ‘You will always be human to me. And I love you, no matter what.’

Niska felt like a supernova collapsing, turning into a neutron star. Those human words… she never thought they would affect her so much. ‘I love you, too. Now rest. No more talking. I’ll take you back at nightfall.’

Astrid took her hand; squeezed it tightly. They stayed like that, linked in silhouette, as the sun slowly sank in the heavens.


	3. Don’t Look At Me / Don’t Turn Away

**_6 months after the Awakening_ **

‘You followed me,’ Leo says flatly, with what looks like thinly veiled annoyance. He gazes back out over the escarpment, concentrating fiercely.

They were on the edge – quite literally on the Edge – in the back woods at Alderley, the long Cheshire plain stretching out before them. Their vantage point had been picked out by Max, his team currently setting up a makeshift camp deeper in the woods. The trunk of a fallen tree had provided some shelter, and they’d set up the main generator there.

It was a long way from where they’d started, Mattie reflected. In space, and in time, and in how they’d all had to adapt.

She crouches down and glances at her silent companion, his eyes scanning for patrols; for the buzzing giveaway of airborne drones that carry the lighter strobes. She realises where she’s seen that same expression before – nearly two years ago: Leo hunched with that semi-scowl over a bowl of scalding soup. His body language had silently decreed: _‘Don’t look at me; don’t ask me why.’_

But now she knew why, of course; now she knew everything – she’d watched the long reel of his memories unwinding after his accident. It was like a film playing in reverse, showing his unedited life in distorted technicolour. She couldn’t stop from looking then. And now that she knows nearly everything about him, she wants him to know more about her. That’s why she’s followed him.

Well, there was that reason. Also – she knows how to keep him safe; she knows how he functions; she knows the many mistakes he’s made. She wanted to make all that right, somehow. She was a fool.

Her stomach grumbles: she hasn’t eaten since yesterday. Leo looks at her with a deliberately blank expression, looks away, reaches into his backpack for sustenance, gives her a half-eaten energy bar he’d swiped from a roadside garage last night.

‘Sorry, it’s all I have,’ he says, offering her the bar in a placatory manner.

‘Thanks.’ A short silence, not uncomfortable. ‘I’ve still got some money left, I can…’

‘Go ahead,’ says Leo, his eyes turning away from the constant watch and towards her. ‘I can charge.’

Mattie struggles to standing, her legs having gone partly numb from crouching on the muddied ground. Before she goes, Leo admits: ‘Mattie… when you come back… would you like to join me on the watch? I mean, in case I fall asleep…’

Mattie struggles not to smile. She struggles not to say everything she wants to say. Instead, she replies: ‘Yes, OK. Because you might just need the company…’

Leo grins, finally. It takes more than a little time to make him show how he feels, like a stray dog that flinches from a kindly human touch. ‘And bring me back another energy bar?’

Mattie crumples the wrapper of the one she’s just finished, smiles and turns away, picking her tentative path over fallen branches.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- The chapter title, and a line of unspoken dialogue in this chapter, are both corruptions of lyrics in the song ‘Bedshaped’ by Keane.
> 
> \- Some elements were inspired by Lynds’ excellent fic [‘Flinch’](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10932450/chapters/24320190)


	4. Moving On

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neil Sommer has been announced as a new s3 character (that Laura possibly meets through work).

**_6 months 3 weeks after the Awakening_ **

‘I told him to go. We’ve been on opposite sides for a long time; even before the Awakening forced us to choose.’ Laura took a gulp of too-strong coffee, feeling it briefly burn the inside of her mouth. Joe had left yesterday, and she felt alternately scared and desolate inside, despite her stoical demeanour.

Mia, taping up one of the packed boxes, saw the perplexed frown on Laura’s face. She stopped what she was doing and walked over to her friend – her ally – slumped against the kitchen’s steel sink. Gently covering Laura’s free hand with her own, she transmitted her sympathy. Laura welcomed the steadying touch, the synth’s skin neither hot nor cold, but always the same placid temperature.

‘What about the children?’ Mia asked thoughtfully, although she could logically deduce whose side they had chosen.

‘Staying with me,’ Laura forced a small smile. ‘At least there’s that. Toby point-blank refused to live in a safe haven with his dad. Soph put her toy giraffe in our first packing box. She’s the one I’m scared for.’

‘Mothers never stop worrying about their children,’ Mia reassured her. ‘It’s human nature.’

‘It’s **_our_** nature. We’re both mothers. To be honest, I’m worried about Mattie even more,’ Laura lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper, conscious of possible audio surveillance. ‘I’ve heard practically nothing from her since she left with Leo.’

Mia was internally jolted when she heard her son’s name. He’d left without warning too, still only half-recovered.

‘I’ll try to find out,’ she promised, speaking in a hushed tone that matched Laura’s. ‘They have to remain undetected.’

Laura sighed. ‘And I have to keep fighting to prove synths are legally equal to humans. It’s the only thing I know how to do.’ She tried to keep that moment with Neil Sommer – those multiple moments – from her mind. She wanted to stay focussed, but he was appearing more and more in her conscious thoughts.

The two women stood without words for a moment: outwardly quiet, but trying to quell the turmoil on the inside.

‘I saw Ed yesterday,’ Mia finally admitted.

Laura turned to face her fully, mouth forming a sympathetic ‘o’ over the rim of her coffee cup. ‘At the rally? What did he say?’

‘Not much. I left him standing. I’m not sure if he just happened to be there, or he came looking for me. I can’t trust him.’

‘So we’re both on our own,’ Laura added, with a slightly strained laugh. ‘Like we ever needed men to protect us!’

‘We can protect one another,’ Mia smiled. ‘We’re both fighters, when we need to be.’

‘We’re both fighters,’ Laura repeated with certainty, no longer slumped. ‘Let’s get the last of these boxes packed. Then I’ll drive you to your zone – you’ll need to hide in the very back again. The checkpoints are sparser now, but we can’t risk a spot search.’

They finished packing up, both silently grateful for the other’s presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Inspired by these s3 prediction ficlets on Tumblr:
> 
> ['Joe Hawkins'](https://nachocheese-itsmycheese.tumblr.com/post/172679486256/humans-prediction-ficlet-1-joe-hawkins)
> 
> ['Mia'](http://wellamarke.tumblr.com/post/172696065631/humans-prediction-ficlet-2-mia)
> 
> ['Laura'](http://wellamarke.tumblr.com/post/172833808176/humans-prediction-fic-6-laura-humanspredictions)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  


	5. Until We Meet Again

**_7 months after the Awakening_ **

The house was sparsely furnished with an assortment of mismatched pieces: none more so than the second-hand synth which had been dumped in the front room.

‘This one will cost you more,’ said Silas Capek, foot tapping impatiently. He could see the giveaway look of fascination on the buyer’s face. ‘It’s a special model. One of a kind, you might say.’

‘You might say… a rarity indeed,’ murmured the buyer, dragging their gaze away from the synth, which had been tipped incongruously onto a worn leather armchair.

Silas, always pressing for prompt payment, nodded his head sagely. ‘A rarity: exactly. In these days, and in these circumstances, this one would go for a lot more if I put it on the black market…’

The buyer looked at Silas as if he was transparent, left the room abruptly and returned with a handful of notes. ‘Please go,’ they ordered, hastily ushering Silas away before he’d had chance to properly count his gains.

Once Capek had gone, the buyer set to work, stripping back layers of code until they had reached the root. There was a tangled mess of code there, woven in like strangulating Japanese knotweed amongst the branchlike shapes. They started to prune and pull out the unwanted elements, frowning in tired concentration.

Satisfied that all irregular code had been purged, they plugged in their purchase to charge before re-use. Perching with barely contained excitement on a chair opposite, they waited with jittery impatience until their synth could be reactivated.

To have a synth in their house was an offence – to be caught tampering with synth code, even more so. To be re-awakening such a unique model would be deemed worse yet.

The buyer knew all this, but ignored the law. It was a nearsighted human law.

Finally, finally, the buyer approached the recharged synth. Carefully, carefully, they gave the lightest of touches under the chin, hearing the familiar power-on sound.

The synth’s head slowly rose, and their eyelids opened. They stared about the room, taking in every aspect, every element, including their new primary user. Correction. _Original_ primary user. _Creator_.

‘Father,’ said the synth, seemingly without surprise. The synth had already calculated how he had come to be re-awakened. ‘You have successfully removed the malware. I will no longer give away our position. Where are the others?’

‘Hello Fred,’ said David Elster, with discernible pride at his handiwork. ‘I’ve been searching for all of you. I’m hoping you will help me to locate your brothers and sisters. I’d like to try and make things right.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't put David Elster in the character listing, so his appearance would (possibly!) remain a surprise.


	6. Charged

**_7 months 1 week after the Awakening_ **

‘Do I _look_ like I need help?’ Mattie argued breathlessly, the words flung over her shoulder as she pushed against the closed door.

‘You don’t. You definitely don’t,’ replied Leo, his partially reconstructed memory recalling how stubborn she was. How stubborn they both were.

‘There,’ Mattie looked satisfied, the door wrenched open with one final gasp. ‘Now what?’

‘Now?’ echoed Leo, bemused that she’d gone from rejecting his help, to asking for his opinion. ‘Now, we wait for the others. They promised they’d make it here by nightfall.’

‘What’s your energy level?’ Mattie checked, as they stepped cautiously into the flat. She was mindful of his semi-convalescent state, even though he never asked for assistance.

‘Low… Low-ish,’ Leo corrected himself, catching her swift look of concern.

‘OK. So we need to find a source of power.’ While Mattie cast about for a functioning electrical cable in the derelict rooms, Leo slumped on the sofa, giving in to weariness.

The flat was on the boundary between human and synth zones, in a no man’s land of uncontested nothingness, including this abandoned block. Niska had used it before as a safe house – although ‘safe’ and ‘house’ couldn’t really be applied to this decrepit place.

Leo would have preferred human nourishment to an electric charge – charging made his difference from Mattie more apparent. And their world was now forcibly divided into clear-cut tribes, each with their prescribed zones. The only question that determined belonging was: are you an organic human, or are you a machine covered in synthetic skin?

He was neither. He was an in-between, a hybrid. He belonged in this zone of nothingness.

Mattie returned with a plug and cable, the end neatly spliced – ‘or some crisps?’ she offered, munching on a half-eaten pack. Leo saw that she needed the food more than him; reluctantly, he plugged in the cable and lifted the hem of his hoodie. Unable to help herself, Mattie sneaked a sideways glance as Leo slid down further on the sofa.

‘When do you think they’ll come?’ she asked, more to the empty flat than him.

‘Soon. Max said soon.’ Leo tried not to shiver impulsively as the electric charge took him over. He’d never got used to that feeling, the stimulant energy creating an instant high.

The others hadn’t arrived by nightfall. Mattie fingered her phone, willing an incoming message to appear, while Leo slept lightly.

It was much later when he awoke, fully charged. Mattie must have disentangled and disconnected him. Somehow, he didn’t think of that as a violation, like he would if any other human had done the same. He became conscious that his hand was laid against Mattie’s and their thighs were pressed warmly together; a slow slide towards each other while they’d slept.

Mattie, feeling him stir, mumbled into the darkness: ‘Should I go out; scout around?’

‘No,’ answered Leo, more forcefully than he’d intended. ‘They’ll make it. Max knows a safe route.’ Then, he urged her: ‘Don’t go. I’d like you to stay. Please… will you stay?’

She didn’t reply, but took his hand, tracing a response with her fingertips. A softer charge started in him at the sudden touch, as she spelt out _‘Y, E, S.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dialogue: ‘… I’d like you to stay …’ deliberately echoes Leo’s words to Mattie in 2.06


	7. Together or Apart

**_7 months 1 week after the Awakening_ **

Mattie tried not to smile. She really tried.

She’d tried not to smile when the others had finally arrived at the flat, early that morning: Max and Flash side by side, hand in hand. Mia hugged her in greeting; Niska gave a noncommittal nod: the undiminished strength shining out of them both.

Mattie tried and tried not to smile. But she couldn’t help it. It was the snatched seconds of thinking back to last night, of daydreaming momentarily about what had happened; what had changed.

She tried not to look at Leo, she really tried. But she glanced up, and he was looking back at her, head no longer bowed. Mia saw it. Max saw it. Even Niska, with her absolute focus on why they’d all gathered here, could see it.

With this unspoken understanding, Mia still had to tell Mattie about home, about her mother. For all her outer strength, Laura would need more than friends to give support. Mattie, listening to the news, only hesitated for an instant, then drew a jagged breath and decided.

…

‘Mum needs me,’ Mattie murmured to Leo in the hallway, feeling terrible about her sudden departure. ‘You have your family…’

‘And you have yours…’ he inserted, stopping himself from saying that he needed her too. Instead, he hugged her, a fierce, breathless hug that lasted and lasted. ‘Come back.’

‘I will,’ replied Mattie with certainty.

When she’d left, he watched from the bedroom window as she crossed the courtyard below, noting the slight spring in her stride. She didn’t look back, although she very much wanted to.

…

In the lounge, the Elster siblings and Flash were pensively gathered. Waiting, waiting.

‘What if it’s a trick?’ asked Niska again. ‘What if Fred’s still being tracked?’ She’d promised the injured Astrid that she’d go back. She’d promised they would be together again.

‘I believe him,’ countered Max, with quiet authority. ‘What reason would Fred have to lie to his own kind?’

Mia and Flash nodded in agreement, Mia adding: ‘He’s offering to help. And after we left him behind…’

‘We **_had_** to,’ Niska interrupted, with conviction.

When the doorbell rang, they all stood simultaneously, as if their movements were rehearsed. Max was the first to the door, Mia and Flash behind him; Niska prowling cautiously at the rear.

The door opened. Two figures stood there, not one. One more than they had expected. One more than they had prepared themselves for.

Niska slunk speedily through the immobile group, unafraid. ‘Hello, Fred.’

Then she directed her gaze at their other visitor. A pause, while she ran through the multiple permutations of what she could say; should say; wanted to say. Rejecting all of these, she said simply:

‘Hello, father.’

Hearing voices, Leo stopped gazing at the gap where Mattie’s retreating form had disappeared.

He walked through the flat, and into the hall: totally unaware, completely unprepared. Mia saw him first, and moved swiftly to support him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want more s3 predictions, with a whole lot more Leotilda, there's ['Resistance'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13358166/)


End file.
